


we were in the gold room

by intrajanelle



Series: tell me about the dream [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting Together, Happy cheese-y ending, M/M, No knowledge of PJO required to enjoy, Pegasi riding, Percy Jackson/Voltron fusion, Some dumbassery, monster fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 16:17:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19976941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intrajanelle/pseuds/intrajanelle
Summary: Keith and his friends spend the summer on a quest from the gods to find the next Oracle. Everyone except Lance. Lance spends the summer working at a pool in the Bronx, thinking his friends have abandoned him. Until Keith comes charging out of a bush with a sword.





	we were in the gold room

**Author's Note:**

> Yo. I haven’t read the PJO series in a million years so I may have gotten some details from the books wrong! Although, I know the oracle is supposed to be a female maiden, but like fuck that lmao. Writing this has been really fun so I may be back to write more one-shots and ficlets in this universe, I already have a few planned! As always, thanks to Jo for encouraging me to write what I want. :D
> 
> The title is from a poem in "Crush" by Richard Siken, an excerpt of which is below. TW in the end notes.
> 
> Hope y’all enjoy!

We were in the gold room where everyone  
finally gets what they want, so I said _What do you_  
want, sweetheart? and you said _Kiss me_. Here I am  
leaving you clues. I am singing now while Rome  
burns. We are all just trying to be holy. My applejack,  
my silent night, just mash your lips against me.  
We are all going forward. None of us are going back.

—Richard Siken, "Snow and Dirty Rain"

+

Keith was loathe to admit it, but he missed Lance. Every summer all of Keith’s friends from Garrison Academy made the trek to Camp Half Blood on Long Island. All of Keith’s friends except for Lance, who was mortal, knew nothing of his friend’s godly ancestry, and was subsequently abandoned in New York City for three months a year every year since they’d all met in middle school.

****

Normally, this sucked for normal reasons. Keith would make do sparring with Shiro, tinkering with Hunk’s latest creations, and helping Adam boss around first years. He still had time to send Lance the occasional letter and receive the frequent short communications back, written on everything from receipts to official stationary, usually bemoaning the fact that none of his friends had cell phones as if they were all part of some weird anti-tech cult.

****

Truthfully, Keith would have loved a cell phone. He would have texted Lance a picture of himself, half obscured by the bush Keith was crouched behind. But monsters could use cell signals to track demigods, so cell phones were a no-go, and Keith wasn’t actually hiding in the bushes by the neighborhood pool Lance worked at to stalk Lance. As nice as it was to see him, Keith was on a quest.

****

“Could you please stop checking out Lance’s ass and focus,” Hunk said. He sounded sad he even had to ask.

****

Keith tore his eyes away from Lance’s tan shoulders. He turned on Hunk with a hopefully undetectable squeak in his voice. “I am _not_ looking at his _ass_.”

****

“Yeah you’re staring soulfully into his eyes,” Pidge said. They were typing away on a laptop Keith was pretty sure Shiro’s sister had stolen from Daedalus. “Do you see them yet?”

****

Keith might have seen the newest oracle, but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what they looked like. 

****

He still couldn’t believe Shiro and Allura had been invited to Mount Olympus to summit with Zeus about replacing the Oracle of Delphi, while Keith was in the Bronx waiting to kidnap the next oracle from a crowded pool. He got that Zeus was Allura’s dad, but he still felt like he hadn’t been chosen go because he was a child of Hades. It wasn’t like he would have killed anyone and dragged their soul to the Underworld.

****

Well, no one that didn’t deserve it.

****

So Keith was attempting to not be mad about being stuck behind a bush in the Bronx by watching over his best friend who he hadn’t seen or heard from all summer. Was that a crime?

****

“Keith, buddy, you’re doing that thing where you have an entire argument with us with your eyes and its freaking me out,” Hunk said, patting Keith on the shoulder. “Chill, bro.”

****

“Is that him?” Pidge said. They pointed towards the front gate where a small kid had emerged.

****

He was wearing a myriad of flotation devices, a full body swimsuit, swimming goggles, and he was walking as far from the edge of the pool as he could manage without walking on top of the sunbathers.

****

“It could be,” Keith said, leaning forward. All they had to go on was a brief description from the final prophecy of the previous oracle: _Well protected to swim over sink_.

****

This kid was definitely the most protected person here. 

****

It had taken Keith, Hunk, and Pidge several weeks to track down a likely candidate. The prophecy had taken them all around the country, to seemingly random cities, where they’d dodged a plethora of monsters, gods, and near death experiences, only to end up around the corner from their high school. If this was the new oracle, they just had to get him safely to Camp Half Blood so Keith could spend the rest of the summer apologizing to Lance for a month of radio silence.

****

“Great, so here’s the plan,” Pidge said, closing the laptop and tucking it into their backpack. “We wait until he leaves the pool, follow him until he’s alone, and then approach. If he doesn’t believe us, we knock him out and call a pegasus. Then we’re home free.”

****

“Why can’t we shadow travel?” Keith asked.

****

“No one wants to shadow travel with you, Keith,” Pidge said. “It’s too…slimy.”

****

“It is not!” Keith insisted. Besides shadow traveling, Keith could wield a knife, or summon an army of the dead. It seemed unfair that his friends had nixed two of his godly perks. 

****

It was fast and exhilarating. He bet Lance would love shadow traveling. If he was allowed to tell him about it. Speaking of Lance, he was standing by the edge of the pool, whistle around his neck, sunscreen smeared on his nose and cheeks. He was laughing at something someone was saying to him. 

****

Keith couldn’t see who it was but they clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder and then kept their hand there. He twisted his head around to catch a glimpse of their face and once he recognized them, his heart sank. Ryan Kinkade. Arguably the most popular guy in their high school. Lance had had a crush on him since the eighth grade. His hand was still on Lance’s shoulder.

****

“Is that Kinkade?” Pidge said, they whistled. “Way to go Lance.”

****

“They’re just talking,” Keith said. “I’m surprised Griffin hasn’t appeared to push Lance into the pool.”

****

James Griffin was Kinkade’s best friend, his one-sided crush on Kinkade was infamous at their high school.

****

“Uh, guys?” Hunk said, drawing their attention to the sky. “We may need a new plan.”

****

Keith whipped his head up to where Hunk was pointing. A fury was descending on the pool, headed straight for Lance.

****

+

****

Despite being abandoned by all of his friends for the entire summer, Lance was having a beautiful day. Lance had always wanted to be a lifeguard at his neighborhood pool. The pay was slightly above minimum wage, he got to use the pool as much as he wanted when he wasn’t working, and he got to flirt with anyone and everyone from the perch of the lifeguard stand. Not that anyone took him seriously. A week into his new job, a coworker had found the picture of Keith he kept in his locker and word had spread that Lance was in a long distance love affair with a boy who hadn’t returned his letters all summer. If Lance got one more sympathetic pat on the back from a gossipy housewife he was going to drown himself in the pool.

****

Still. Despite the fact that all of his friends had fucked off to Long Island to an exclusive summer camp that didn’t even have a website. Despite the fact that none of them had cell phones, in this, the year of our Lord, 2019. Despite the fact that Keith had returned none of his letters in almost two months, when every summer for seven years he always sent the same stark missives about beating Shiro at capture the flag in the woods and eating french fries for dinner every night. Despite all of these setbacks, Lance was young, hot, single, and flirting with Ryan Kinkade.

****

And yes, he knew Kinkade had started dating that asshole Griffin earlier that summer. But Kinkade was still super hot and super laughing at all of Lance’s jokes while Griffin was stuck at home with a summer cold, so _there_.

****

Kinkade clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder and kept it there. Lance really missed Keith. 

****

It was kind of humiliating how much he missed Keith. He’d spent all summer visiting colleges, working, and helping his dad cook for three separate block parties. He barely had time to sit and feel the sun on his shoulders. He missed all of his friends. Pidge would have played Zelda with him, Hunk would help him bake and tinker with the old motorcycle his tío had gifted to him, Shiro and Allura would have made sure they were all staying in shape for their co-ed fall soccer season. 

****

But Keith would have helped him cook and showed up at the pool everyday to distract him from protecting innocent children by swimming butterfly laps right under Lance’s nose. He would have lounged on Lance’s bed and argued about conspiracy theories mostly by himself, while Lance painted their nails. He would have helped carry his bags back home when he went to book fairs and pop up sales. He would have braved the annoying summer crowds at Coney Island, so Lance could ride the ferris wheel. 

****

Instead Keith was on Long Island without a cell phone and hadn’t responded to a single letter from him for four weeks and two days. At this point, Lance couldn’t decide if he was more angry or worried. Especially after the awful dreams he’d been having. 

****

There was one that repeated almost every night. He was with Keith and they were somewhere damp and dark. A shadowed figure emerged and Keith had a trash can lid held up to protect them. Keith was yelling “Hurry up!” but not at Lance and then the figure stepped into the light and it was Keith’s dad. Shock rippled through Keith and Lance every time, every night, even though Lance knew what was next. The trash can lid clattered to the ground and Keith’s dad pulled a knife from behind his back and rushed forward and—

****

Kinkade was still talking, his lips turning up at the corners. Lance didn’t hear what he said but he laughed automatically. He only regretted it when Kinkade immediately frowned.

****

“Lance, did you hear me?” Kinkade asked.

****

“Uh,” Lance said. He really wished Keith was here, he totally would have made a fool of himself and distracted Kinkade long enough for Lance to say something eloquent. 

****

So when Keith jumped out of a bush by the edge of the pool with a sword, screaming like he was charging into battle, Lance wasn’t even surprised.

****

But he still shouted, “Keith?!”

****

“Keith?” Kinkade asked, turning to see Keith running towards them. “He really shouldn’t run with scissors.”

****

Lance didn’t even have time to process what Kinkade had said, let alone correct him that he wasn’t holding scissors, that he was clearly brandishing a sword. A short, stubby, glowing sword. He didn’t have time to think to say any of that though, before Keith tackled him into the pool.

****

Lance got a last gulp of air and then he was going under, Keith was scrawny but had always been pretty heavy. His full body weight on top of Lance meant that he couldn’t fight it as they sunk to the bottom. The sword was gone, Lance would have noticed something that sharp hovering near him in the water. Instead, Keith’s empty hands grabbed Lance’s shoulder and dragged him towards the surface. Almost as quickly as they’d gone under, they were struggling for air at the edge of the pool. 

****

“Keith! Lance! Look out!” Hunk was shouting.

****

Which didn’t make any sense. Keith and Hunk were here? In the Bronx? In the summer? With a sword?

****

Lance finally looked up. And Pidge was here too. And they were helping Hunk fight off what looked like a beaked lady with wings. 

****

The pool was clearing out, thankfully. Even Kinkade had been ushered away by the other lifeguards. There were yelps from the crowd as they ran to the exit, but no one seemed overly concerned that there was a bird woman trying to dissect his friends with her clawed feet.

****

Beside him Keith pulled himself over the edge of the pool and then reached down to offer Lance a hand. Lance stared at it.

****

“Lance? Come on, you’re a sitting duck in there,” Keith said. He didn’t look hurt, or unnerved, or much different from the last time Lance had seen him. Except for being a tad skinnier, his mullet was grown enough for him to pull it back into a low ponytail. 

****

“I don’t hear from you all summer and the first thing you do is tackle me into a pool!” Lance shouted. Keith looked anxiously back at where Hunk and Pidge were making due progress at trying to stab the bird woman with a collapsed umbrella. “Where have you been! Why is there a flying lady here! And why do you have a sword? Am I being Punk’d? Are there hidden cameras? My hair is a mess! If you’re punking me Keith, I swear—”

****

“You can see her?” Keith grabbed Lance’s arm and began manhandling him until he got out of the pool himself. He stood beside Keith, dripping wet but at least wearing a bathing suit, unlike Keith who was fully clothed. Keith pointed at the bird woman. “Her? You can see a woman here?”

****

“Yeah? Wings, clawed feet, beak, currently screeching incoherently. Kind of hard to miss.” Lance said. “Is she a LARPer? Is this elaborate cosplay? Oh no, she’s not a furry is she?”

****

“This,” Keith said, somehow whipping the sword from before out of his tiny skinny jeans pocket. “This, can you see this?”

****

“How the hell did you fit that in there?” Lance said. “Did you tear a hole in your pocket to sheath your sword? Or is it bigger on the inside?”

****

Keith just blinked at him. He looked pale and thin under his bangs. 

****

“Keith! We could really use some sword over here!” Hunk yelled.

****

“Right,” Keith said. He spun around, ran straight at a lawn chair and used it to launch himself into the air. He stabbed the bird woman right in the center of the back. In a flash of light she burst into dust. Keith managed to land somewhat on his feet and somewhat in a bush.

****

Lance fell backwards onto his butt. 

****

Lance stared at where the bird woman had vanished until Keith reappeared, standing over him with a frown.

****

“You don’t have godly ancestry you forgot to mention do you?” Keith asked. 

****

“Godly? Like Beyonce or like Jesus?”

****

“Lance!” Hunk shouted, this was all the warning he gave before he threw himself down and hugged Lance to his chest. “We missed you buddy!”

****

“We did,” Pidge said, somewhere behind Keith. “But we should get going.”

****

When Hunk pulled away, Lance could see that Pidge had a hand on a kids’ shoulder. It was one of the pool regulars. A small kid with more floaties than hair on his head.

****

“I’ve got him, we need to get going before the pool staff come to investigate. We’re lucky the Mist drove them off when it did.”

****

“Wait, are you kidnapping this child?” Lance asked, incredulously. He turned to look down at the cowering kid. “Where are your parents buddy?”

****

The kid blinked up at him. “Foster parents,” he said. “They don’t care where I am. Did you know there are ten pool related deaths a day in the United States?”

****

“Whoa, okay, fun kid,” Lance said. “Where are you taking him?”

****

“Somewhere he’ll be safe,” Keith said, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder but quickly removing it.

****

“Safe? How can I know that for sure, when you just stabbed a lady so hard she exploded? I’m coming with you.”

****

Hunk, Keith and Pidge exchanged a look. Lance usually knew exactly what they were thinking, but there had been points in their friendship where the three of them and Shiro and Allura would silently commiserate over something Lance could never understand. It had left him feeling like an extra for much of the time he’d known them. They had some big secret bond that he couldn’t begin to comprehend, but now he felt like he was getting closer to the crux of the issue.

****

“You can’t come,” Hunk said. Lance could tell he was trying to be as gentle as possible. “Lance, you couldn’t even _see_ the place where we’re going. It’s hidden. You’re going to have to trust us.”

****

“Actually,” Keith said. “He saw the fury.”

****

Pidge had definitely been about to argue with Keith, but this news seemed to stun Hunk and Pidge into silence. 

****

“He also saw PeopleEater. Maybe he _should_ come with us,” Keith said, frowning at Lance.

****

“The _fury_ ? _PeopleEater_?” Lance said.

****

“Okay,” Pidge said, grabbing the kid’s hand. “But we have to move now.”

****

+

****

After stealing some flip flops and a sweater for Lance from the detritus left behind at the pool, Keith spent half an hour ushering him through the streets of the Bronx. They couldn’t very well go around giving Lance all the answers he wanted in the middle of the street. But Lance didn’t seem to understand the need for secrecy.

****

“Just tell me why you stabbed someone and kidnapped a kid!” Lance shouted. 

****

No one even looked their way, but Keith still gestured to the people that were surrounding them. 

****

“This is New York! They probably think we’re rehearsing for off-Broadway.”

****

“Just wait until we get to camp,” Keith said. 

****

“Camp? Your camp?” Lance said. 

****

They finally reached a secluded and misty enough alley for Pidge to summon a pegasus. Pidge and Hunk made a beeline to the end of the alley and crouched over a hastily summoned Iris Message. Soon they were talking in hushed whispers to the pavement. 

****

Keith prodded Lance until he finally followed them and wandered far enough inside that the sounds from the street traffic faded to a low rumble. Lance had an arm around the kid, who still hadn’t given them his name, just quietly murmured morbid facts to himself and scratched at his water shoes.

****

“Yes,” Keith finally replied.

****

“But that’s on Long Island! I have to tell my parents, I have to call off work, and I need to pack!” Lance paused, “And if we’re going to Penn Station I have to steel myself.”

****

“We’ll call your parents once we get there,” Keith said. 

****

“I thought they don’t have phones?” Lance asked. “Speaking of, why are Hunk and Pidge talking to the pavement?”

****

“They don’t. They aren’t.” Keith sighed. “All will be—”

****

“If you ‘all will be revealed’ me, Keith, I will punch you in the throat,” Lance said.

****

He turned away from Keith to face the wall. Keith knew Lance better than almost anyone, he could tell when he was pretending he was mad to make a point and when he was actually frothing with anger. Lance was halfway between the two right now, but unsure which to settle on.

****

“Listen,” Keith said. “I promise I will explain everything to you once we get there. Camp, why we go there every year, why I have a sword, why this kid is important, who the fury was, why she disappeared. Any questions you have I will do my best to tell you the truth. But it’s too dangerous out here. Anyone could be listening.”

****

Lance stiffened, he looked a little green in the low light of the alley. This was the opposite of the reaction Keith was hoping for.

****

“Keith, he’s not real,” Lance said.

****

“What?”

****

“He’s not real! It’s not him, it’ll kill you, you have to—”

****

Keith felt the chill before he noticed how dark the alley had become. Behind them, Hunk and Pidge finished up their Iris Message and they looked around warily. In the corner of a dumpster, right in front of Keith, was a shadow creeping closer to where Lance and the potential oracle were standing. Keith grabbed a trash can lid and held it in front of himself. He really wished he hadn’t lost his shield in Rhode Island. 

****

“Keith,” Lance was muttering. “Don’t put the lid down. Where’s your sword?”

****

“The pegasi are here! I see them!” Hunk was shouting, jumping up and down to get their attention.

****

“Hurry up!” Keith yelled. 

****

A figure was emerging from the shadow and Keith knew they were fucked, because when it stepped into the light it was his dad. 

****

His mom had never told him what happened to his dad. She ruled Hades with an iron fist, but she tended to be lax in her parenting. Still, she’d barred him from seeing the one spirit he’d always wanted to see. She always told him he shouldn’t dwell on the dead. If a person forgot to form connections with the living they could unintentionally seal themselves in the Underworld. It did no one any good to forget that death was permanent. Even a son of Hades.

****

But his dad was here. He’d found his way back to Keith. They could have a family again. At the moment, Keith couldn’t remember why that was a bad thing.

****

Lance had grabbed his arm, was calling his name. The trash can lid was loose in his fingers but Lance was desperately holding it against his chest.

****

“It’s not him, Keith!” Lance was shouting. 

****

Keith tried to take a step forward, but Lance’s arms were locked around him from behind. He struggled but Lance just gripped him tighter. 

****

His dad beckoned him closer, his arms open and inviting. Keith wanted to be held to his chest, to smell the smoke and pine on his clothes. He hadn’t hugged his dad since he was ten years old.

****

After a moment of waiting, the smile on his dad’s face fell. It curled into an unnatural snear and then he lunged at them.

****

Keith elbowed Lance in the ribs, unlocking his arms. Lance groaned in his ear but didn’t have a chance to grab him again before Keith was launching himself forward shield first. The creature, that wasn’t his dad, but wore his dad’s face, stabbed a knife through the trash can lid like he was cutting through a plastic container to get to the meat. Keith let out a wordless cry and drew PeopleEater, it pulsed in his hands. It could always tell the difference between something dead and something alive, and this thing had been dead for millennia. 

****

Keith twisted the shield before the creature could pull out its weapon, twisting the knife right out of its hands. Then he stabbed for its abdomen, always a safe choice with an unknown entity. He hit nothing. It was shadow and ash. There was no flesh at all.

****

Behind him the pegasi had arrived. Lance was shouting something as either Hunk or Pidge undoubtedly dragged him towards their escape plan. 

****

“Just go! Get out of here!” Keith shouted.

****

The creature, still wearing his dad’s face, but looking less and less like the kind man who had patted Keith on the head and loved to make blueberry pancakes for dinner, pulled a second knife from the cavernous shadow that was its body. 

****

“Go!” Keith yelled, parrying the swing for his face. He parried and shielded and ducked behind a dumpster. He was sweaty and his clothes were still heavy and wet from the pool, it felt like he was fighting in a fog. 

****

The creature got in a side swipe to his torso and Keith hissed, dropping to his knees. He looked up into the creature’s bottomless eyes, he didn’t want to see the blow that would kill him.

****

The creature lifted its weapon and an empty coke can hit the side of its head.

****

Keith and the creature looked over to see Lance straddling a pegasus, behind Hunk, with an armful of trash. He hurled a Starbucks cup and then a half eaten sandwich. 

****

“Made you look!” he shouted. 

****

Before Keith could react the pegasus Pidge and the oracle were riding dropped down on the creatures head. It disintegrated instantly into a black mist that seeped into the pavement. It didn’t seem like it had died. In fact, Keith had never seen himself do it, but he’d bet anything that that thing had just shadow traveled. That wasn’t good.

****

“Keith!” Lance said, jumping down from the pegasus. Luckily he dropped all the trash on the ground before he threw his arms around Keith’s shoulders. “Keith! You’re alive!”

****

“Am I?” Keith asked. His stomach was throbbing, he patted at it uselessly. 

****

Lance grabbed his shoulders and pushed them apart, so he could see what Keith was getting at. His eyes were wide and there were already tears in them as he took in all the blood.

****

_Ugh, this was my last shirt without any blood on it_ , Keith thought. Then he promptly blacked out.

****

+

****

Lance was kind of put out Keith wasn’t actually going to die. Especially since he cradled Keith in his arms and cried in a gross alley in the Bronx for _nothing_.

****

The pegasi flew them to Long Island in like fifteen minutes. They arrived at a huge house with a wrap around porch that looked like something out of a long bygone romance novel and Hunk and Pidge were swept away by a grumpy guy they called Mr. D. Then some kids in orange t-shirts showed up and made Keith drink some gold juice until the wound on his stomach started healing right then and there. They left Keith on the swing on the porch and they left Lance with a pitcher of iced tea while he waited for Hunk and Pidge to come back and tell him what the hell was going on. 

****

In the field beyond the house, some kids were climbing a rock wall that had alarmingly realistic rock slides and lava flowing down it. In the distance he was pretty sure he saw a dragon wrapped around a tree. What the ever loving fuck.

****

“How’s he doing?” a familiar voice said. 

****

Lance turned to see Shiro coming out of the house. 

****

“They said he’ll be fine,” Lance said. “Which you can probably tell doesn’t make much sense to me considering he was skewered less than an hour ago.”

****

“You probably have a lot of questions,” Shiro said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

****

Lance had really missed Shiro. His soccer co-captain, his first crush in middle school, reliable, helpful, alarmingly handsome Shiro. But right now he felt confused and lied to and slightly betrayed by all of his friends and Keith was asleep so Lance couldn’t take it out on him.

****

“Do you actually have answers?” Lance asked. “Or are you here to neuralyze me?”

****

“This isn’t Men In Black,” Shiro said, chuckling despite his attempt to be serious. “We couldn’t tell you before because you wouldn’t have believed us anyway. Or at least, we thought you wouldn’t have. Because of the Mist.”

****

“This again,” Lance said. “I can see through mist just fine.”

****

“Not this kind,” Shiro said. “Just let me explain and then you can ask as many questions as you want.”

****

Since that was what Lance had wanted anyways, he did his best to reign in his sarcasm and nodded.

****

“Great,” Shiro said. “Well first of all, I actually do have a mom. I’m the son of Athena.”

****

Shiro explained that all of Lance’s friends that attended this camp were demigods. Children of one mortal and one godly parent. Greek gods. Like some kind of fairy tale. The Mist was like a magical ‘nothing to see here’ sign that made mortals look the other way when the gods were involved. That’s why Kinkade had seen scissors instead of Keith’s sword, why people had evacuated the pool but hadn’t seemed very alarmed. 

****

All demigods had to come to this camp when school was closed for the summer because their schools, including Garrison Academy, were run by demigods who protected the younger demigods during the school year and the camp was run by a god who protected demigods during the summer. Otherwise they’d be hunted by mythological monsters their entire lives. 

****

At the beginning of this summer, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge were sent on a quest to find the oracle’s successor after receiving a prophecy from the previous oracle before she passed away. They’d been running across the country, dodging monsters, gods, and well-meaning but misinformed CPS employees. For a month. So that’s why Keith hadn’t answered any of his letters.

****

The prophecy had taken them to the pool Lance worked at and the kid they’d been trying to kidnap was who they presumed was the newest oracle. Lance had almost forgotten about the kid, he was off with Hunk and Pidge probably getting his oracle orientation.

****

Just then Keith decided to join them. He woke up with a groan and tried to sit up, but then made a wounded noise that had Shiro and Lance helping to prop him in a sitting position. 

****

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Lance said.

****

Keith looked over at Shiro. “So you already told him?”

****

“Not that part,” Shiro said.

****

“What part?” Lance asked.

****

“My mom, she’s Hades,” Keith said.

****

“Your mom is Hades? I thought Hades was a dude with blue flames for hair,” Lance said.

****

“First of all, Disney got a lot of things wrong,” Keith said. “Second of all, gods don’t really subscribe to the gender binary, but my mom has identified female for a few centuries now.”

****

“Cool,” Lance said. “Good to know. Also good to know you didn’t murder an innocent LARPer earlier today.”

****

“Yeah,” Keith said. 

****

Shiro was backing away, trying to make himself scarce for their reunion, but Keith still had questions.

****

“Where’s the oracle? Did we get him here okay?”

****

“He’s fine,” Shiro said. “He’s with—”

****

“Shiro!” Pidge yelped. They were running up the hill to the house, followed closely by Hunk, Allura, Mr. D, the oracle kid, and a cute guy Lance didn’t recognize.

****

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Shiro asked, meeting them by the stairs. 

****

Lance held Keith down on the porch swing, when he tried to stand. No one took flesh wounds very seriously around here.

****

“This isn’t the oracle,” Pidge said at the top of the stairs, out of breath. “Apollo didn’t come when we summoned him. Also, look.”

****

They pointed down at the kids feet. The water shoes were missing and in their place were two hooves. 

****

“You’re a satyr?” Shiro said. “Satyrs can’t be the oracle.”

****

“My name is Slav,” the kid said, stomping his little hoof.

****

“Well that seems racist. Speciesist?” Lance said. But only Keith heard him.

****

“They have their own magic. The oracle magic doesn’t mix well with satyr magic.” He explained.

****

“So they’re allergic to it?” Lance said.

****

“This is impossible, I don’t know what happened,” Pidge said. Everyone else was watching them pace the porch. “We followed the prophecy. We trekked across the whole country fending off monsters. We went to Brown, Brooklyn, Harvard and Rome, NY!”

****

Lance felt his eye twitch before he even realized why. Then he remembered: His college tour.

****

“Uh, Pidge.”

****

“Far away but close to home, From Brown to Brooklyn, from Harvard to Rome, Well protected to swim over sink, The chain complete with one last link,” Pidge recited. “What could we have missed?”

****

“Yo, Pidgester,” Lance said.

****

“I don’t think there was anyone at that pool more equipped not to drown than this kid. Unless they had their own personal lifeguard.”

****

“Pidge, I—”

****

“Were you watching over a specific person today Lance? Rescue anyone from the pool?” Pidge said, whirling on him.

****

“No,” Lance said, pretty calmly for how fast his heart was beating. “But I think you should know—”

****

There was a crack and a burst of light and then a man in a toga was standing on the porch. He headed straight for Lance and pulled him into a hug.

****

“There you are!” he exclaimed.

****

“Uh, hi, who are you?” Lance asked, but it was mostly lost to the man’s pectorals.

****

Behind him, he could tell Keith had inadvisably leapt to his feet. He put a hand on Lance’s shoulder and pulled him away from the man. 

****

“Touchy,” the guy said. Then he pulled a pamphlet from his toga and handed it to Lance. It read:

**Prophecies and You! The exciting world of orakle-ing**

****

“Oracle is spelled wrong,” Lance said.

****

“Aw, man, really?” the man said. “Hunters of Artemis really make terrible assistants. She probably did that on purpose. Technically she is not my assistant but I made her help because I don’t know how to work a printer. Do you know how to work a printer?”

****

Lance wasn’t sure he wanted to answer that question.

****

“My Lord Apollo,” Shiro said, “what are you doing here?”

****

“Why, welcoming my latest oracle of course!” Apollo said, clapping Lance on the shoulder.

****

Suddenly, everyone was staring at Lance. He felt slightly offended that they were as surprised as they seemed. He could be an oracle! He could be an amazing oracle! He told them so.

****

“Of course you can, Lance,” Allura said, stepping forward. “This life is just incredibly dangerous. Especially for an oracle. Monsters and gods and other demigods may fight over you to take advantage of your powers. We’re— we don’t think you can’t do it. We are simply worried for you.”

****

“Oh,” Lance said. 

****

“Danger, smanger,” Apollo said. “Let’s talk caves. Every oracle needs a good cave. Do you like shag carpets?” 

****

He threw an arm around Lance’s shoulders and led him inside the house. Away from the concerned gazes of his friends and away from Keith’s hand which fell from his shoulder.

****

+

****

After Apollo talked his ear off about caves and the benefits of turning prophecies into haikus, he disappeared in a flash of light. He said something about setting the sun but Lance had seen him getting a Groupon notification on his cellphone so he wasn’t convinced. 

****

Lance was then whisked off by Hunk and Pidge for a welcome dinner with the entire camp. He was introduced to what had to be hundreds of kids, some of whom he already knew from Garrison Academy, but they all seemed to be excited to meet him as the oracle. Many of them were very familiar with him from stories his friends had told over the years.

****

He was squished between Shiro and Allura for dinner, which turned out to be the table manifesting whatever he wanted to eat. Which explained how Keith got away with eating french fries all summer every summer. Lance received a huge plate of ropa vieja with a side of white rice and fried plantains, it tasted fresh from his mom’s kitchen. 

****

He didn’t see Keith anywhere.

****

+

****

Keith had thrown his dozenth knife at the target in the field beside the Big House, when Lance found him.

****

Lance watched him throw two more knives, hitting the target each time, before he sighed.

****

“Are you, like, mad I’m the oracle or something?” Lance said. “Because I feel we should clear the air now if I’m going to be here for the rest of the summer.”

****

“No,” Keith said.

****

“No you’re not mad, or no you don’t want me here this summer?” Lance said.

****

“I’m not mad,” Keith said, he walked over to his target and began cleaning up.

****

Lance continued yelling across the field, which Keith felt was pretty ballsy of him to do while Keith held a dozen or so knives.

****

“Then what Keith!” Lance said. “You didn’t go to dinner! You’ve been avoiding me since you found out! Do I have oracle cooties now or something?”

****

Keith didn’t respond. He didn’t know how to. He dumped the knives with the rest of the practice gear and started making his way down the hill towards the cabins.

****

“Keith, come on, talk to me man. I am kind of freaking out about this over here and I could use my best friend.”

****

“See, that’s the thing though,” Keith said. “I’m not a good best friend.”

****

“What are you talking about?” Lance said. “You saved my life twice today.”

****

“And I’ll probably have to save you again and again and again now that you’re the oracle,” Keith said. “You’ll be in danger all the time. At your home with your family, at school, even here at camp. Your life is going to get hard now, Lance. Dangerous. Death around every corner. But I’m still…”

****

“What?” Lance demanded. He’d run in front of Keith and crossed his arms, trapping him unless Keith wanted to make a scene of running around him and sprinting for the cabins. Which wasn’t really an option with his still healing wound. Lance knew that.

****

“I’m happy you’re here,” Keith said, finally meeting Lance’s eyes. “I’m happy you’re here and you get to stay. I’m happy I can tell you everything now. There’s stuff that I’ve wanted to talk about with you for a long time, that I couldn’t and now I can. And we can share this,” he gestured around the entire camp, meaning the gods, the earth, the sun, the moon, the sky, “I can share myself with you. Finally. And that’s really selfish of me.”

****

At some point, his eyes had wandered down to his feet, but they were forced upward when Lance snapped, “So?”

****

“So?” Keith repeated.

****

“So you’re selfish,” Lance said. “So what. I’m happy too! I always felt like you guys were hiding something from me. I always felt like an outsider, no matter how much you all tried to include me. And now I can help you. All of you. If I didn’t have these powers, you might have died today.”

****

“I _would_ have died today,” Keith said. He was staring into Lance’s eyes as they slowly filled with tears. “You saw it, didn’t you?”

****

“I’ve been dreaming it for a month,” Lance said. “My dad and I have been going to visit colleges and, that’s probably why you were jerked around the whole country, so, sorry, but I kept having this nightmare of you getting stabbed by that…thing.”

****

Lance was really crying now, so Keith stepped forward and enveloped him in his arms. Lance hugged him back, hiding his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. 

****

“Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry I elbowed you earlier.”

****

“I forgot, that really hurt mullethead.”

****

“You’re getting snot all over me,” Keith said. 

****

“Shut up, Keith,” Lance said, pushing back suddenly. “Just shut up.”

****

And then they were kissing. Keith wasn’t actually sure who started it or if it was an accident, until it wasn’t. But Lance’s lips were chapped and he tasted like black beans and soda and Keith had wanted this for so long.

****

When they pulled away from each other and Keith used his sleeves to swipe under Lance’s eyes, Lance was finally smiling again.

****

“So I’m the oracle and we’re boyfriends now, correct?” he said.

****

“Correct,” Keith said. Above them constellations from a thousand years ago still shone on the lawn of Camp Half Blood. Their friends shouts from the woods meant someone had probably just won capture the flag. Keith pulled Lance to his chest and tried to calm his heart, but it was impossible. This was all he’d ever wanted right here in his arms.

****

“Cool,” Lance said. “What a weird summer.”

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Drowning mention, a light stabbing that is quickly healed, fighting/general violence
> 
> Is Keith's sword named after the Purple People Eater you ask? Yes. Yes it is. He was ten, he's stuck with it.
> 
> Also, fun fact, sometimes I do my titles in lower case because I forget which words are supposed to be capitalized and I don't want to google it. I have a degree in English.


End file.
